A survivor of serial church abuser John Smyth says he felt a “physical reaction” to learning of a data breach, which leaked the details of almost 200 people affected by church abuse.

The Church of England said an email sent by Kennedys law firm, which handles the abuse redress scheme, was “deeply regrettable”. It contained the names and addresses of 194 people who had signed up for updates to the scheme.

Mark Stibbe, who was abused as a pupil at Winchester College, told Channel 4 News: “I actually had a very physical reaction when I saw what had happened.

“I started shaking, and I think the reason I started shaking was I was shocked. First of all, that such a data breach could have happened, and that a new low had been reached in terms of incompetence.”

Stibbe described the CofE’s response to the email as “appalling”, saying: “They’ve parked responsibility over to the law firm.”

The Bishop of Winchester, Rt Rev Phillip Mountstephen, responded to the leak by saying: “Even though this wasn’t our error from a legal perspective, we will not shirk our moral responsibility.

“Survivors are deserving of the utmost care, confidentiality and respect and our focus has to be on their well-being.”

Kennedys says the leak was an act of “human error,” and insisted the firm is “deeply sorry”.